[madape]

the state of New York is now officially IN PLAY

New York (31 electoral votes)-A new Quinnipiac Poll reports that President Bush has cut John Kerry's lead from 18 points to just 6. Kerry leads with 47%, President Bush wins 41%, and Ralph Nader 4%. The President's approval rating has climbed to 43%.

While it is still too early to say if New York will be a fall battleground, it must be said that this is a very bad sign for the Kerry campaign, given the fact that the last two Democratic Presidential candidates carried the state by 28 and 25 percentage points.

Florida (27 electoral votes)-A SurveyUSA Poll reports the President leads in the Sunshine state 51%-46%. Obviously the President is now over 50%, a crucial benchmark. However the margin is not wide enough yet that Republicans should become overconfident.

Nevada (4 electoral votes)-President Bush leads here 51%-47%, according to SurveyUSA. For some reason, SurveyUSA is not mirroring the findings of other post-GOP convention polls showing a large bounce for the President in battleground states.

In Georgia, Strategic Vision reports the President now holds a 22 point lead over his opponent. In Wisconsin, the same polling firm gives the President a 5 point edge with the internal polling data quite good from the Republican perspective.